mmm-yoso – Page 380

Da Kine’s – Liberty Station

January 13, 2008 mmm-yoso Local Kine Stuffs in San Diego, Plate Lunch

**** This location of Da Kine's has closed

Recently, whenever I need to make a trip to Trader Joe's, I've headed down to the new store located at Liberty Station, the former Naval Training Center in Point Loma. It never seems too crowded(except on Sundays when Church services next door let out), and there always seems to be abundant parking. So, it's only natural that I'd visit the new location of Da Kine's located in Liberty Station. Liberty Station itself is very large, and I've noticed that there is a severe lack of signs. Due to the barracks-like nature of the place, you may have some problems finding your destination. For instance, if I didn't tell you where I was headed, what would you make of this…….

The actual sign for Da Kine's is pretty small:

So don't blink…you might miss the place.

On the day of my first visit, I wasn't quite ready for a full on plate lunch. And an item on the menu, the Linguica Burger fascinated me. In Hawaii, we call Linguica "Portuguese Sausage", an island staple that is so incorporated in Island Cuisine that McDonald's serves it! In fact, there are several brands of Portuguese Sausage that "compete" for the Hawaii market share. In case you're wondering, The Tasty Island did a Portuguese Sausage Comparison, as did San Diego's own Barefoot Plumies.

Anyway, the Linguica Burger($5.00), comes with fries:

While waiting for my burger, I noticed that everyone else was getting their food before me. One of the women working, came to me and told me, that the Linguica Burger takes a bit longer than other burgers because, "it is made fresh." Perfectly fine with me, I'll take a hand made, cooked to order burger over something preformed any day of the week. The burger arrived steaming hot. I noticed the odd shape of the burger, and the flavor hinted at Portuguese sausage, a much leaner, and not as spicy version of Linguica. To me it headed more in the direction of chorizo…..the meat was moist, and overall was fine for 5 bucks. The fries were 100% processed, and just an after-thought.

The only complaint was that one edge of the burger was charred, and tasted that way.

About a week later, I found myself doing a Trader Joe's run again, and this time I was in the mood for a plate lunch. To try and check out as much as I could, I ordered the "Wop Yo Jaws"(I'm still kinda uncomfortable saying that…) which is the 3 item mixed plate($8.75):

The first thing I noticed was that the portion size, and "look" of the plate lunch was more toward the late Pacific Beach location, than the now also defunct, Mira Mesa location. The Katsu, was the signature Da Kine's Katsu, thin sliced chicken, creating a larger breading to meat ratio. The katsu was cooked to crisp perfection.

I don't know why I ordered Kalua Pork and cabbage….I'm usually disappointed, but in this case, it wasn't too bad. There was a good amount of pork(much of it was under the katsu), it was moist, mild smokiness, perhaps a bit light on "porky sweetness", but not overly salted. I was pleasantly surprised. Also, there wasn't much cabbage in this.

The Macaroni salad was the best that I've had at Da Kine's, the mac salad actually had a decent amount of mayo and flavor for a change. If you look at the photo to the right, you'll notice what I didn't enjoy. The teriyaki chicken was very dry, like it had been sitting for a very long time, and hardly had any marinated flavor. I almost broke my knife trying to cut it. The rice was improperly made, and I encountered several hard, indigestible grains. This lunch had started well, but ended badly…..

To me, if you can't make rice, you have no business serving plate lunches. This had to be a fluke…even though I always thought that Da' Kine's PB location always had rice on the mushy side, this was really bad. So just to be sure, I recently had another plate lunch….

This is "Da Buggah"…..sheesh(Two item mixed plate – $8):

The rice was fine, so the last visit must have been a fluke, but the macaroni salad was gladly, not a fluke. The Teriyaki Beef was the less sweet, more soy in flavor "local style", and in spite of being low grade meat with lots of connective tissue, it was more tender than it looked. The teriyaki chicken was better than the last time, but not much, this time it was more tender and moist. Though it was hotter than the last time, I still think that it is under marinated, and the grilling process does not lend enough flavor to the chicken. Even the extra sauce provided doesn't do much for the chicken.

I like the decor at this location of Da Kine's…..it seems to be a combo of warm woods and sports bar. There's also a simple outdoor eating area which will be pretty nice when the weather gets warmer, it already seems to be a favorite of the "lunchtime kids". One last thing, there's a Woman who works here, who is a bit older than the others, who is very nice, always checking to make sure everyone gets what they need.

After overhearing some conversations, I got the impression that Nelson Ishii doesn't have much to do with this location….and reading this on Da Kine's website, perhaps "semi-retired?" I wouldn't blame Him, Nelson is considered by many as the "Plate Lunch Pioneer" in San Diego.

Da Kine's Plate Lunches
2400 Historic Decatur Rd
San Diego, CA 92106

Check out the Doggie Parking Station at Trader Joe's:

A Tale of Two Karaages

January 11, 2008 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Are you a collector? Or maybe a pack rat? I was looking at my recipes folder the other day and realized that, gasp….I’m a Chicken Karaage recipe pack rat. I’ve got at least a dozen different recipes for Chicken Karaage, Japanese Fried Chicken. I don’t know how I got these recipes…god knows I’m not a "collector"…….Though I come from a long line of pack rats, I consciously try not to be one. I can understand that living on an "island" with the possibility of shortages and strikes made having a back stock of necessities a requirement way back when….but sometimes it seemed like my Mom never threw anything away. I remember cleaning up after my Mom passed away back in the mid-nineties, and being amazed at the stuff she kept; jars of pennies, buttons("you never know you might need one "), a drawer full of pens – most not working(I never knew Tanoue’s Saimin had pens), and even more touching, every single card; Birthday, Mother’s Day, you name it, from the construction paper-crayon doodles of a first grader, to the silly one that played, or used to play, some silly tune. But among all those little things was about the equivalent of 2 cases of toilet paper stacked neatly, filling an entire closet(let’s not get into spools of thread, or boxes of Kleenex). You know……..just in case. I guess for previous generations, a modicum of hording was the norm.

So I thought I’d relieve that collection of notes and text files, at least by a bit, and post 2 of the Chicken Karaage recipes I have. The first is my standard recipe, the one I normally use, the second is one that I thought was a bit more interesting…..

Here’s a photo of the first recipe…..

Looks like 2 recipes, doesn’t it? It’s actually the same recipe, but just to illustrate how changing one thing can change the entire dish.

This is the second recipe……

Looks kinda the same, but a bit different, doesn’t it? I don’t know where I got this recipe, but the oyster sauce gives the dish a different, albeit maybe a bit odd, umami sweetness, and the lemon juice adds a bit of tart sourness. Mixed with garlic and ginger……the Missus thought the flavor to be "strange". I think it need perhaps a bit more sweetness…….

Chicken Karaage
1 1/2 – 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1 1/2" cubes
1 1/2 cup potato starch

The Marinade (1):
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
3 TB Sake
1 TB finely grated ginger
4 cloves garlic finely minced
Togarashi to taste
a dash of Allspice/5 spice

Combine ingredients and marinade chicken for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken from marinade and drain.

Version 1 – Put 1 cup potato starch and 1 tsp baking powder into a pan or large bowl, add the chicken cubes and coat well.

Version 2 – Dust the chicken with potato starch, mix lightly.

Deep fry chicken in 350 degree vegetable oil until cooked and cubes are crisp and golden – drain and serve with lemon wedges…..

Marinade (2):
2 TB grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 tsp soy sauce
2 TB olive oil
4 TB oyster sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 TB mirin
2 tsp sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Combine marinade ingredients well; taste and adjust salt and pepper. Add chicken, mixing by hand and gently massaging sauce into chicken. Let sit about 10 minutes.
Coat chicken in potato starch. Deep fry in oil heated to 350 degrees, until lightly brown.

For an even more crunchy coat, use the double frying method, remove chicken when pieces float, let rest for 1 minute, and return to oil for about 30 seconds.

I hope you enjoyed the recipes. I can now put them away for a while, next to my folders of take-out menus, and my box of POGs……….

Filibertos Mexican Food – Linda Vista

January 8, 2008 mmm-yoso Mexican Restaurants, Taco Shops

This location of Filibertos (not "that" location) always struck me as the Teal and White Taco Shop looking for an edge:

First off, they have a menu that rivals some of the larger Vietnamese establishments I know of. Than they started the $1(now $1.25) "Mexico City Tacos". And recently, they’ve put banners up advertising their "Panaderia", specifically fresh bread. I’m trying to figure out whats coming up next!

Being a sucker for good tacos, I dropped by on a recent weekend morning. The interior of this location of Filibertos is rather large, but on the dingy side, not necessarily a bad thing for a taco shop. On one side of the long counter is the bakery case, and on the other the drinks/aguas frescas, and the salsa bar.

I ordered a Suadero(Beef Shoulder), Lengua(beef tongue), and an Al Pastor(marinated pork). Each cost a mere $1.25:

I don’t know if I chose a bad day, or what…the suadero had a decent beef flavor, but was very dry, the lengua was gummy and greasy, and the Al Pastor was under flavored and tough. Even for $1.25 a piece, these weren’t very good tacos…heck for a quarter more I could get these right down the street in a few hours.

One thing did get my attention. As I was leaving, I noticed several groups of Hispanic males eating Menudo. I made mental note to return at a future date, which I did. Unfortunately, they were all out of lengua….so since they’ve been "advertising" their bread, I ordered a Torta….actually, I think I ordered a Carne Asada Torta, but the Gal at the counter told me, that I had ordered a Al Pastor Torta($3.96):

In this case the flavor of Al Pastor was even worse than the last time….just really bland. I was floundering, looking for a "silver lining", and I finally found one….the bread was indeed good, fresh, placed on the griddle and toasted, even the charred edges couldn’t spoil the bread. Even the faux liquid butter flavor couldn’t spoil the bread…..I scraped off the contents of the sandwich, and just ate the bread.

For now, I think I’m going to give this location of Filibertos as "rest"…though I’ll try to be back for the menudo…maybe.

Filibertos Mexican Food
2399 Ulric Street
San Diego, CA 92111

Postscript – For those that think you can’t get good tacos for a "buck-n-quarter"……I was expecting something more like this – Two Barbacoa de Borrego, one Cabeza, and one lengua Taco, in tortillas made fresh while you wait – total $5.

It can be done…….

Coming up in a future post.

Dublin Square – Breakfast

January 7, 2008 mmm-yoso Breakfast/Brunch, Pubs and Pub Grub

**** Dublin Square has closed

I wish I could remember the name of the person who told me that Dublin Square, one of several Irish Pubs in the Downtown/Gaslamp area serves Irish Breakfast. So first off, my sincere apologies for not remembering, I went through my old emails trying to find the rec, but couldn't find it. And it was an interesting series of emails, the first making a recommendation, and a week later a follow-up, letting me know that the food and service on the second visit was not up to par, and expressing some reservations about the recommendation. I had to give the emailer credit; She really took Her recommendations seriously!

So a few months ago, I decided to have breakfast at Dublin Square.

As I've noted in previous posts, I enjoy walking around the Gaslamp on weekend mornings. The contrast between the hectic workday crowds and tourist/nightclub scene is quite drastic. Beyond the lysol, and other "post-nightclub" smells, things are fairly mellow.

I arrived at Dublin Square at about 715am…. I was the first customer(surprise !) on this Sunday morning. The sleepy hostess walked me to a table, where a much too cheerful(for 7am on a Sunday) and smiling Server handed me a menu, and a drink list the size of a good sized book. As much as I tried, even using the "it's noon somewhere in the world" rationalization, I couldn't bring myself to order a drink.

After placing my order, I had a good chance to look over the interior.

Much like The Field one block away, from the panelings and decor, Dublin Square aims for a "genuine Irish Pub" look. At least in the minds of many, what a genuine Irish Pub should look like.

After perusing the menu, it didn't take me very long to figure out what I was going to order……..It was going to be the Irish Breakfast($12.95), of course, enough food to last me a whole weekend.

From the eggs to the white and black sausage, this was, beyond any doubt a major cholesterol and fat fest.

So lets see, where to start….well the basic "full breakfast" is basically bacon and eggs. In this case, the eggs, ordered easy over were fine, though I enjoy mine with a bit more "color" around the edges.

The "bacon" was according to the menu Irish Bacon from Ireland:

And this was indeed lean pork loin, much like what we know as "Canadian Bacon" or back bacon. The flavor of this was very mild, and not overly salty, it was quite tough and chewy.

The baked beans were full on canned….it had Heinz written all over it.

The "Banger" or sausage, was very meaty, and moist, but tasted very much "Jimmy Dean-ish", and was nothing special. I'm a big fan of good Black Pudding, which this was really not. No richness, no nice flavor of herbs and seasonings. It was much better than I thought it would be though.

I'd never had White Pudding before, this one tasted mildly of oatmeal, and was quite "grainy".

The fried bread was crumbly and greasy….funny thing, all of the sausages were not greasy at all, which I thought was rather nice, but that fried bread was a bit too oily for me. I'd preferred soda bread.

The roasted potatoes were okay, nothing special, but I haven't met too many potatoes that I didn't like. In case you were feeling a bit of guilt over the food, some fried tomatoes may help sooth your mind….or maybe the one piece of lettuce garnish?

Since I was the only customer until just before I left, my coffee cup was always filled, and I was checked on several times. In the end, I really couldn't complain at the amount of food for the price(especially for the location). It wasn't quite what I expected….but what did I really expect? I did return home and entered into a very deep hibernation. So the next time you're up to, or need your entire weekend's fat and cholesterol in one meal, you may want to check out the Irish Breakfast at Dublin Square…..I think it is enough for two.

Dublin Square Irish Pub & Restaurant
554 4th Ave
San Diego, CA 92101

Serving Breakfast M-F: 7am – 2pm
Sat-Sun 7am – 3pm

Ozoni (That only kinda sucks….)

January 6, 2008 mmm-yoso Recipes

"You’re not going to make me eat ozoni again, are you….’cause your ozoni sucks…"

So sayeth the Missus, when I told Her of my plans for New Years breakfast. And I wouldn’t blame Her for feeling that way, my previous attempts at Ozoni did indeed "suck". Though I did have ozoni every New Years breakfast growing up, it was one of those things that I never really tried making until I moved to the mainland. My previous attempts at what I thought my Mom made were pathetic, and after searching out recipes, became even more confused and pathetic over the years. For it seems, there as many different ways for making ozoni as there are stars in the heaven….chicken stock, dashi, ginger, no chicken stock, no dashi, no ginger, bamboo shoots, kamaboko, shoyu(soy sauce), no bamboo shoots, no kamaboko, no shoyu….the only common thread is mochi! So after being spun around, and confused, I stopped making it all together. Until I received an email from a FOY(friend of yoso), AlanN who inquired as to why I’ve never posted on Ozoni…it being such an important New Year’s dish….to which I had to reply, tail between my legs, "because, ahem, my Ozoni sucks…."

At which time I became obsessed with making ozoni "that only kinda sucks." Driving my 2 existing braincells into overdrive, I worked trying to remember the flavors of Mom’s. The only thing I really remembered was chicken broth, well at least I thought it was chicken broth…..but I also remembered the broth being very clear…..which the canned stuff is surely not. So a few days before New Years, I made a nice clear chicken stock from some carcasses I had in the freezer…..and I was off. While putting everything together, it hit me…this wasn’t one of those Chicken stock OR dashi versions….it was a chicken stock AND dashi version. Which is what I made. When the Missus tasted the Ozoni She told me, "not bad, this only kinda sucks……." After so many really terrible versions, I’ll take what I can get!

Ozoni(That only kinda sucks…)

8 Cups Clear Chicken Stock
1 Tsp Kosher Salt
1 Tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tsp Dashi no Moto
6 Mochi
Slices of Kamaboko (fish cake)
Mizuna, Shungiku, or Horenso(spinach)
Thinly Sliced Daikon and Carrots (optional)

1-Combine first 3 ingredients and bring to a boil, remove from heat, add dashi no moto, combine well, and strain.If you really want to be like my Mom strain through a coffee filter – I didn’t do this.
2-Bring broth back to a simmer and add daikon and carrots(do not boil).
3-Broil Mochi.
4-Place mochi in a bowl, and poke holes into mochi to allow for saturation.
5-Add kamaboko, and greens to bowl, and pour soup over ingredients.

This past New Years eve was a bit different for us, for the first time in eons, we actually went to a party. And after stuffing ourselves silly, we decided to keep our New Years days meal, "light(er)".

So for once, nothing fried, and no rice on New Years…that’s a first!

Soltan Banoo

January 3, 2008 mmm-yoso Persian Restaurants

**** Soltan Banoo has closed

Every few months, I'm able to break away, and have a nice lunch with the Missus. On most occasions, I'm still in a bit of a rush, so lunch will usually consist of soup from Mien Trung, or something similar. Still, there are those days….when the planets seemed aligned, which are too few and far between for my tastes, where the Missus and I are able to have a more leisurely meal. Over the last 6 months, we had the pleasure of having lunch at Soltan Banoo twice. Located on Park Avenue, Soltan Banoo, is a small, cozy, colorful restaurant which seems to embrace you as you enter.

In a former incarnation, Soltan Banoo was the Cafe Caspian, the tiny hole-in-the wall across the street next to El Zarape. Mahin, the warm and welcoming Owner of Soltan Banoo, has always been on hand when we've had our meals there, and is quick to explain the various dishes on the menu. You can tell that there is a great deal of pride in the food that Soltan Banoo serves.

The menu is small but diverse, with an interesting sampling of dishes, ranging from the usual(hummus) to more fusion fare(Salmon and tofu dishes). But to us, Soltan Banoo excels in the various stews on the menu. Like the Friday lunch special, Gourmeh Sabzi(with lamb – lunch $8.95):

This wonderful savory stew of greens, scallions, kidney beans, and preserved lemon, was nicely flavored without being overpowering. The quite generous potion of lamb was very tender. The basmati rice with saffron-rice drizzled on it was cooked to perfection. The stew was not salty, but still full of flavor. We noticed right away that the fare at Soltan Banoo was on the lighter side. The Missus had picked a winner, that fared better than my Koubideh Kabob(lunch – $8.95):

Though this was a good amount of food for the price, especially for lunch, I found the Koubideh, while moist, to be under seasoned, and a bit on the bland side. Not wanting to salt the meat, I ended up hitting it with a good amount of Sumac. The shirazi salad (cucumber-tomato salad), was nice, though again, a bit under salted. The roasted tomato was not ripe, and thus very bland. Overall, this was a pretty large amount of food for lunch.

And that Gourmeh Sabzi was enough to draw us back for another lunch several months later. This time I had my eye on a few other items. I started with a cup of the Ash Anar, Pomegranate Soup ($2.95):

The sweet-tangy-sour soup initially shocked my tastebuds, but the more I ate…the more I enjoyed it. It went well with the slices of pita provided. The soup was both hearty and delicate at the same time…very nice, I'd have it again! The Missus's Chinese-based tastebuds also suffered from the same shock, but didn't recover…….

I had the Baghali Polo (stewed lamb with dill-fava bean rice – lunch – $8.95):

How good was it? Well, once the Missus saw my plate, She grabbed the lamb shank, and sucked the meat off it like it was a chicken drumstick….the only point of reference I have is Fred Flintstone…… Did I mention that the Missus loves Fava Beans? It was gone…totally gone….

The Missus had ordered the Zereshk Polo with Lamb Shank($9.95):

The sweet combination of dried cranberries, barberries(aka berberis), orange zest, and carrots proved a bit too much for the Missus. The lamb was very soft and tender, but lost in all the strong sweet-sour flavors. I didn't mind it too much, though I did think that the dish went a bit far over to the sweet side, but that is probably based on my taste preferences.

I've found the fare at Soltan Banoo to be lighter, and less salty than what I've previously experienced. The service was very warm and friendly, though it is not a place for a quick lunch. We adore the Owner, Mahin; on our first visit, she came over and chatted about the food, and knowing we weren't from the neighborhood, asked us if we'd be back….our answer was a definite "yes". When we returned a few weeks later, She greeted us with a warm smile, and said, "you know, everyone says they will come back, but you really returned……" And we will return……when the planets are in alignment again!

Soltan Banoo
4645 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92116

Ba Ren Seasonal Menu

January 2, 2008 mmm-yoso Chinese Restaurants

**** Ba Ren has closed

I think it's been about nine months since I even mentioned Ba Ren. So hopefully it's safe to just do a quick post on a few items on the seasonal menu. Ba Ren usually has a few items in Chinese on the placard at each table. Most items are seasonal, or just "experiments" that the Chef and Owners decided to try out. Some, like the Dry Cooked Short Ribs and Twice Cooked Fish become regular menu items…others like the Bamboo Pith Fungus and Egg have (thankfully) disappeared.

The Missus and I have quite a few dishes that we enjoy, sort of a rotation within our rotation, so it is often difficult for us to make room for new dishes. But since there were a few items that looked interesting, we went ahead and spoke to Wendy, one of the Owners about them.

The first item on the placard, is a sizzling short rib dish($12.99), but Wendy told us to try it with lamb, which is what we did:

The lamb was prepared well, very soft and tender, if a bit on the "mild" side with regard to gaminess. The peppers were super spicy, but the brown sauce, with lots of black pepper, was more on the sweet side. This dish, a bit heavy on the oil, was just okay by Ba Ren standards.

The third item on the placard was a revelation, and by far the best of the items we had. It was a slight riff on the Beijing style Sweet Corn with Pine Nuts($9.99):

Instead of stir frying corn kernels and pine nuts, this version had the kernels enveloped in a light batter that seemed to enhance the sweetness of the corn. Toasted pungent and buttery pine nuts were sprinkled on the top, an excellent foil to the sweet corn. One thing interesting about this dish, as light as the batter seemed to be, it was very rich, and not only from the pine nuts. We felt stuffed after 4-5 bites! The Missus mentioned this to Wendy, who told us that 5 boiled duck egg yolks, and 2 boiled chicken egg yolks are whipped into the batter to give it "body" and richness. So filling we could barely finish half of it….funny thing , it was still pretty good after spending a night in the frig, something that you really can't say about most fried foods. This one is a keeper…..

I found the inclusion of Kwai Fei Chicken(6th item on the placard – $10.99) to be fascinating. Kwai Fei Chicken in my previous experience has been a cold chicken dish, served with a ginger-scallion dipping sauce. This version was totally different:

This version was a stir fry in a black pepper-brown sauce. I thought the flavor was fairly good, the chicken, though the bones made eating somewhat ponderous was fine. I really enjoyed the large slices of garlic, which tasted very sweet. This was not a spicy dish in the least.

And finally, as a follow-up to this post, the duck tongue. The dish listed on the placard(the last item), is duck tongue with ginger, but Wendy told the Missus to try it with Red Peppers($16.99). And so enter the tongue…..

The dish, prepared much in the manner of Chongqing Chili dishes had a good bit of heat. The duck tongue on the other hand, was ummm…..interesting. First off there's a very hard cartilage in the middle of each small tongue, so be careful or you might break your teeth, or otherwise injure yourself. You wouldn't want to make a visit to your local ER, with a duck tongue stuck through your tongue….it might make for an interesting story though. The flavor is a bit kidney like, dark, oily, and gamey…a bit too gamey even for me. Another item off the I'll try anything once list.

There are a few other items on the placard, like Beef Tendon with Tomato Sauce, so if those items interest you….. We have so many favorites at Ba Ren, sometimes it's hard to break away and try something new, but you never know……

Ba Ren
4957 Diane Ave
San Diego, CA 92117

Another Year

December 29, 2007 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

Is almost in the books. Looking back it’s been a pretty good one for new eats in San Diego. Here’s my fearsome foursome of new restaurants that opened this past year:

Early in the year Tsuruhashi opened up, and brought us some good yakiniku.

Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ
3904 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

In April Latin Chef opened up, serving up tasty Peruvian from a tiny shop in Pacific Beach:

The tasty Cebiches and Tiradito provided a delish segue for our trip to Peru. It was nice to see that Latin Chef’s Owner, Freddy, has now acquired the shop next door, doubling the restaurant’s floor space.

Latin Chef
1142 Garnet Ave
San Diego, CA 92109

During the summer, San Diego’s first Vietnamese Crawfish restaurant, Crab Hut opened.

I’m guessing business must be good, since a few months back a second Crawfish boil opened close by.

Crab Hut
4646 Convoy St
San Diego, CA 92111

And in early September, Mongolian Hot Pot finally made it’s way South, and Little Sheep opened up.

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot & Grill
4718 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92117

Sounds like a pretty good year to me! So tell us, what were your favorite new restaurants that opened this past year?

"All of my dreams are fading fast…."

"Another year."

"Each time I think it’s gonna last……"

"It disappears."

Another Year – Ian Gomm

Can you guess what this is?

December 27, 2007 mmm-yoso yoso-silly

*** And the answer is….. Duck Tongue!

Congrats to those with correct guesses as of 5pm today:

Kaire Rasu
Ed (not from Yuma)
Kim
Kimmy
Kelly

I can’t believe that many of the guesses came from the, "ahem" wrong end of the animal!

So where was this from? That’ll be coming up shortly!

Thanks for playing everyone!

I haven’t done one of these in a while. So let’s have at it, can you guess what is lying on the plate below?

Just as with previous "guess it" contests, first 5 Emails I receive that guess the correct item, I’ll send you a cup of Peet’s on me!

Make sure you email me your guess, at mmm-yoso@hotmail.com, and make sure your email address is a valid one.

As usual 1 winner per IP address. This one is easy, don’t give away the answer!

I’ll reveal the answer tomorrow.

Yuan Style Pan Fried Duck Breasts & Other “Stuff”

December 24, 2007 mmm-yoso Cooking, Recipes

Due to some terrible scheduling, I’m going to have to work on Christmas Day…..bummer. So the Missus and I decided to have our Christmas lunch/dinner (lunner?? dinch??) today. One of the items I made was a real easy pan-glazed duck breast dish, Kamo no Yuan-yaki. Yuan-yaki, is normally a grilling technique used for chicken or fish briefly marinated in a soy sauce-mirin-sake-citrus(Yuzu) marinade. Why Yuan? From what I could gather "Yuan" was a Tea Ceremony Master from the Edo period, and this dish is named after him. This preparation is a bit different; I didn’t marinade the duck, opting for crisp duck skin, with a nice glaze.

Kamo no Yuan-Yaki

2 Boneless Duck Breasts with Skin
4 Tb Mirin
3 Tb Soy Sauce
2 Tb Sake
2-3 slices lemon rind(or even better Yuzu!)

1 – Place the duck breasts skin side up on a cutting board and score. This allows for excess fat to cook off during cooking process, and the sauce to be absorbed.
2 – Mix together the rest of the ingredients
3 – Heat a frying pan on medium high heat, and place duck breasts skin side down and fry for 4-8 minutes until the skin is crisp. Lower heat, turn duck breasts, and cook for another2-4 minutes.

4 – Pour sauce over duck, bring sauce to a boil, turning duck over several times to coat completely. Let sauce reduce, remove duck.
5 – Cut duck, and place over mizuna, watercress, arugula, or a similar greens. You may pour remaining glaze over the duck if desired.

Super easy!

We also had some Sukiyaki.

Like my meat presentation? I know you’re not supposed to play with your food, but….

I used that nice chunk of fat to help "oil" the sukiyaki nabe. I couldn’t find my trusty old cast iron Sukiyaki Nabe(sukiyaki pot), and had to buy a new one…..I couldn’t find an old-fashioned cast iron version, only the lightweight aluminum, alloy version. When I inquired about the availability of a cast iron nabe, the lady smiled and said, using her most refined Grandmotherly tone, "this is the 21st century…..people don’t want cast iron any more. And, all of us are getting old, cast iron is too heavy!" I couldn’t help but laugh.